


Single Me Out

by Dresupi



Series: ShieldShock [3]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Drunk! Darcy, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, Minor Bucky Barnes/Sam Wilson, Mutual Pining, Sam Ships It, Second-Hand Embarrassment, Seriously So Many Tropes, Singles Events, Smut, bucky ships it, tropes galore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:15:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9315065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Darcy drags her BFF (and totally hot, yes she’s noticed, but he only thinks of her as a friend, okay?  He’s Captain AMERICA for cripes’ sake) Steve along to every singles event in NYC: speed dating, wine tasting, cooking classes, even singles’ dodgeball, completely oblivious to the fact that the only NYC single he’s interested in isher.





	1. look around your world pretty baby

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GlynnisIsta8](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlynnisIsta8/gifts).



> This is for the lovely and wonderful Glynnisista8. A very late birthday gift that I'm forever sorry I couldn't get together in time for the actual day. I hope the newfound length of this makes up for it. 
> 
> This was supposed to be a one shot, and here I am with five chapters. 
> 
> OY.

“So how many numbers did you get?” Darcy asked.  She’d somehow appeared on his left as he was making his way to the door of the restaurant.  

Steve chuckled and looked down at the slips of paper and business cards he had clutched in his hand.  “I dunno…a few, it looks like…”  

“Good Blob Almighty, looks like every woman there wanted a piece of you — probably some of the guys too…”  

He shook his head and stuffed them in his pocket.  “Nah…” 

“Why did I choose my hottest friend to bring with me to Singles Saturdays, Rogers?  This is a serious blow to my self-esteem here.  I got  _ eight _ numbers.  And only like…three of them are date-able.”  

Darcy was too good for any of the men here.  Steve might be just the slightest bit biased, considering what Sam had dubbed his ‘cutesy crush’ on her.  He didn’t know how cute it was, but  _ crush _ certainly seemed like the right word.  Because that’s how he felt each and every time when he saw her.  Crushed, but in the best way possible.  

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to feel the same way, preferring to do “friendshippy” things with him instead. (Friendshippy was her word)  Which were all completely fine with him.  He wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth and spending time with Darcy was the best gift he could ever imagine.  Even if they weren’t together romantically.  

That was okay.  

What wasn’t okay, were the myriad of singles events she deemed necessary to attend ever since she’d broken things off with Ian Boothby.  Now, Steve hadn’t been the biggest fan of Ian, but Ian was more worthy than any of these jokers she’d been out with since she’d started coming to Singles Saturdays eight weeks ago.  

Steve felt bad when the dates failed.  Darcy would shake it off with a shrug, vowing to live to date another jerk. Steve cringed inwardly because he wanted to be the jerk she was dating.  And yes.  He  _ was _ a jerk for wanting to date one of his best friends.  A  _ bigger _ jerk for preening a little when she called him her ‘hottest friend’.  

“Why do you do this, Darcy?” he blurted.  “You’re a nice girl, you could get a date with any guy you wanted.”  

She sniffed, “Not  _ any _ guy.”  

Steve frowned, “What?”  

“Nothing.  Let’s go get food.”  

“Okay…but I’m picking the place this time.”  

She rolled her eyes in a very over-exaggerated manner. “UGH,  _ fine. _ Nothing that’s going to have me reaching for the antacids, got it, Cap?  I’m old.  I can’t have spicy foods after four p.m.”  

He had to laugh at that.  Darcy.  OLD?  Ha.  

* * *

 

Darcy chastised herself.  It was NOT cool to get all snarky with Steve just because she had some big fat attraction for him and he was too dense or too polite to say anything about it.  

She was assuming the latter, because she was being hella obvious.  She couldn’t stop looking at him. It was becoming a problem.  He was so flipping beautiful that her eyes were just drawn to him.  His chiseled jaw.  Blue eyes. The light blond stubble that lined his jaw.  You never saw that in the press pics.  They always airbrushed it out.  But Steve Rogers had quite the five-o’clock shadow thing going on.  Sexy stubble.    

God, even the way he smelled was beautiful.  Like he was some kind of masculine… _ male _ or something.  Whatever the hell cologne and aftershave combo he used had her wanting to inhale him non-stop.  Like, if she could just breathe in one scent forever?  It’d be Steve Rogers.  Except with like…breaks of fresh air and nothing-ness in between, because if she  _ just _ smelled Steve, she’d get used to smelling Steve and then she wouldn’t smell him anymore.  

And wouldn’t  _ that _ be a tragedy?  

It really would be.  It’d be a tragedy along the lines of falling for your best friend who didn’t notice you in that way and then further torturing yourself by dragging them along on Singles events which were designed to get you laid.  

Or in a relationship.  WHATEVER.  

And god, he was Steve motherfucking Rogers.  Of course everyone was throwing themselves at him.  He was Steve motherfucking Rogers, for crying out loud.  

Ugh.  

It wasn’t that she was starstruck by him or anything.  To her, he was just Steve.  The guy who still literally ate his Wheaties every morning along with a half dozen eggs and a glass of OJ.  He watched Gilmore Girls and went to baseball games.  He wore his stupid under armor like it was a shirt of its own and searched all over New York City for blue plaid flannel sheets for his California King Sized Bed.  When he couldn’t find the right color blue, he settled for heather gray t-shirt sheets.  Which of course, drove Tony crazy and Darcy could swear that was half the reason he did it.  

But everyone else?  They knew him as Captain America and it was a little like coming to a meat market with a slab of perfectly marbled Prime Rib and slapping a free sticker on it.  

Captain America at Singles Saturdays.  It was in the flippin’ society pages for Blob’s sake. 

Of course, she was never mentioned.  Why would she be?  She was some nobody who happened to be walking beside him.  A curvy, voluptuous, pretty nobody.  But a nobody nonetheless.  

She caught a quick glance of the two of them in a window they passed by.  

Darcy wasn’t about to second guess her good looks, no matter how much she joked about it.  She had no reason to.  Never mind that the chiseled hunk of perfect beside her raised everyone’s standards within a ten mile radius by simply  _ existing _ .  

Still, though.  She looked pretty damn good tonight.  She got eight numbers. Three date-able dudes was a helluva lot better than nothing.  

It was a helluva lot better than her usual nightly activity of Netflix and Nil.  

Well, sometimes Steve joined her.  But there was still nil and no chill for miles.  

In fact, strictly speaking, she hadn’t seen any “chill” in a while.  All the innuendos implied.  She was about to call it quits on this Singles Saturday thing.  She’d met more losers here than at a Las Vegas Casino.  

Of course, she’d already paid in advance for the next three events, so she figured she’d at least go to those.  One was a wine tasting, so there was the inherent chance of getting a hold of a decent bottle of merlot and finding the bottom of the bottle all by herself.  

At least that was something. 

The other two were dodgeball and a cooking class.  The cooking class had promise, and dodgeball had seemed like such a great idea in retrospect.  Too bad retrospect didn’t translate into futurespect.  And futurespect was telling her it was going to be a big mistake.  Huge. A Julia-Roberts-getting-turned-out-of-a-Beverly-Hills-Boutique-in-Pretty-Woman kind of mistake. 


	2. is it everything you hoped it'd be?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Chapter 2! :D :D :D

THWACK! 

The blonde who’d been trying to get his attention went down like a sack of potatoes.  The smack of the ball against her cheek was almost resonant.  Steve winced, taking a step towards her to make sure she was okay. Her friends immediately swarmed her, though, so he figured he’d hang back.  

Singles’ dodgeball seemed kind of counter productive in his honest opinion.  The organizer had thankfully given him the position of referee, so he wasn’t actually having to handle any of the balls or throw them at anyone either.  

It was for the best.  He’d probably just end up chucking them at his own team if given the chance.  Most of the men here seemed to think it was in their best interests not only to win, but to inflict as much pain on the women as possible.  

Darcy was holding her own, though.  She’d taken it upon herself to take down the most aggressive men first.  And it was working in her favor.  At least four of them had given her their numbers on their way to the bench.  

He heard a loud catcall behind him, and he turned to see the blonde who’d been hit with the ball.  She waved and grinned, giving him the ‘ok’ signal.  He chuckled and reciprocated, earning a loud squeal from her and her friends.  

It wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty.  It was that she wasn’t  _ Darcy _ .  And he was fully aware of the corner he was painting himself into. 

He’d talked it out with Buck that morning.  His friend had simply shaken his head.  “ _ Punk, you’re severely limiting yourself.  You either need to ask her out, or move on and ask someone else.”   _

_ “I don’t want to move on, though…”   _

_ “Then stop your whining and go ask out Lewis.  Before someone else does.”   _

_ Steve chuckled.  “You gonna snake my girl, Barnes?”   _

_ He grinned.  “I’ll have to ask Sam, but I don’t think he’d complain.”   _

Steve sighed.  He supposed Bucky was right.  He needed to piss or get off the pot.  Didn’t make it any easier to accomplish, though.  

He looked over again in Darcy’s direction.  She’d taken herself out of the game, was sitting down beside one of the lesser of the aggressive men she’d conked in the head with a ball.  He had dark hair.  Pit stains down to his ribs.  

Still, though…he looked like he possibly worked out. Definitely not the doughiest of men at this thing.  He was smiling at her.  At only her.  He reminded Steve of well…the way  _ Steve _ looked at her.  And while it made his stomach churn, he realized that she might have actually found someone who could make her happy.  

He wasn’t so incredibly cliche as to think that he himself  _ couldn’t _ make her happy, but he knew when to back down.  He’d waited for too long.  

The game was nearly over so he turned, abandoning his post as referee and deciding on a whim to go talk to the blonde.  

He held out his hand to introduce himself.  “I’m—”  

“Steve Rogers!  Oh my god!” She squealed again, gripping his hand and jumping to her feet.  “I’m Jocelyn! Oh my god, it’s so nice to meet you!”  

He tried not to let the thoughts creep in.  The ones that threatened to compare the woman in front of him to the woman permanently affixed in the back of his mind.  

* * *

 

_ Ouch.  Ice dagger.  Right in the feels bone.   _

Steve was talking to that blonde.  The one who’d been making eyes at him all night like some kind of—

_ NOPE.  Not gonna do that.  Don’t go down that road, Darce.  She has just as much a right to ‘make eyes’ at him as anyone else here. _

Darcy turned back to Mike.  Mike, who worked in Accounting.  Mike, from Accounts Payable.  

Good old Mike, whose attractive-ness factor had suddenly leapt up into the date-able range.  And it had nothing to do with good old Steve-O’s little somethin’-somethin’ with the blonde hair.  

He also snort-laughed.  Mike did.  Mike from Accounts Payable.    

Which Darcy was going to call endearing.  Yep.  Endearing.  Totally not a huge zonko of a turnoff.  

Was  _ zonko _ really the correct increment to use?  She was going to go with yes.  Definitely the increment one used to measure the level of turnoff a nose-snort was.  

Darcy pocketed his number and found herself giving hers. 

_ What the what are you even doing???  He snort-laughs.  A huge zonko’s worth of snort-laughs.  What are you thinking, Lewis?   _

Was it bad that her voice of inner reason sounded an awful lot like Bucky Barnes?  

Probably.  She didn’t even want to LOOK at that cheeseball tomorrow after this all came out.  Nope. She was going to avoid Barnes like the plague.  His boyfriend too.  For good measure.  Sam and Bucky were both a little too opinionated when it came to her and Steve.  Probably stemming from their innate desire to see their friend happy.  Too bad they didn’t understand that Steve just wasn’t interested in her like that.    

She glanced back over at Steve.  Steve with his rippling biceps and narrow waist.  Steve, who hadn’t ever snort-laughed in Darcy’s presence.  Not even once.  He had a wonderful laugh.  Deep. Came from the belly.  Steve, who ate his Wheaties every morning and was currently chatting up a hot blonde.  

Figures.  A hot blond like him deserved a hot blonde like her.    

She glanced back over at Mike, who was excitedly telling her about some pub in Brooklyn he wanted to take her to.  Okay, she might not be a hot blonde, but she WAS a hot, curvy brunette.  And hot curvy brunettes do not date snort-laughers who work in Accounts Payable.  Nope.  

“Actually…know what?  Mike…I need to confess something…” she reached out to pat his shoulder.  “I’m straight up not interested in you.”  

His eyebrows shot up.  “Oh? Well, you gave me your number and—”  

“Well…you know…tax season’s coming up? I was hoping I could get your number for a friend of mine…she’s got…hella taxes man.  All the…forms and stuff?”  

He frowned for a moment, looking conflicted before he took the bait.  “You mean she has more than just a 1040-A?  Do you know what kind she has?”  

“You are gonna have to ask her, man.  It’s a mess. She’s got like…dude.  She’s got hella taxes. She won the lottery…”

He raised his eyebrows.  “Really?”  

Darcy nodded, scratching down one of Natasha’s throwaway numbers on the back of the copy of his number he’d given her. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d used Nat to let a guy down easy…of course…she’d have to text Natasha ahead of time to warn her about the Accounting nerd she was unleashing on her.  

All of this was easier than just saying no, in Darcy’s experience.  Guys were scary.  Not that Mike here looked like he could possibly be scary, but it didn’t hurt to play it safe.    

She took another look around, trying to find Steve.  She spotted him near the door, leaning against the wall and waiting for her.  She shot him a quick smile and hurried over.  “Cap!  Let me go change out of this horrendous torture device and maybe we can go get dinner?  Unless…” she grinned widely.  “You’re busy?”  

_ Please don’t be busy…please don’t be busy… _

He shook his head.  “Nah.  She…our schedules wouldn’t work out.”  

“Don’t  _ you _ make the schedules, Steven?” Darcy prodded.  

“Yes,” he said definitively, shooting her a look that basically ended the conversation.  Apparently he wasn’t interested in the blonde and that was that.  

Darcy couldn’t help but internally jump for joy.  

_ Ask him out, you goober.   _

There was that Bucky Barnes of a Jiminy Cricket again.  

“Quick change…then food?” she reiterated.  

Steve nodded. “Yes.  It’s your turn to pick I believe.”  

“You know what I’m going to pick.”  

“Burgers it is,” he acquiesced, going back to leaning against the wall.  If he’d noticed her talking to good old Mike Zonko-Snorts over there, he didn’t bring it up.  

Darcy wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about that…  

 


	3. the right guy, the wrong situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just Steve POV in this chapter...chapter 4 is pure Darcy. ;) 
> 
>  
> 
> Also, a fair amount of drunk!Darcy in this chapter. Steve's a gentleman, though. ;)

“So why are you going to a wine tasting, again?”  Sam asked as he spotted him in the weight room.  “Isn’t wine kind of beyond the list of things you can enjoy like a normal person?”    

Steve wasn’t exactly in need of a spotter, but Sam had kind of started doing it automatically and at the risk of this turning into another one of those ‘on your left’ situations, Steve had decided to just go with it rather than correct him.  

“It’s Singles’ Saturday,” he said with mock enthusiasm.  “Third Saturday of every month is wine-tasting.  And for your information, you’re not supposed to drink the wine.  Just taste it and spit it back out again.”  

Sam rolled his eyes.  “You ain’t single.  You’ve been in an emotional relationship with that girl and she’s in one with you and there isn’t a thing either one of you can say to make me think otherwise.” He paused for effect.  “ And don’t get me started on wine-tasting.”  

Steve shook his head.  “You’re seeing something I’m not, then.”  

“Damn straight.  It’s hard to see anything when you have your head shoved up your ass. Why do you think you didn’t click with that Jocelyn-girl?  Because you’ve got the hots for Lewis.”

“She doesn’t have the hots for me, though.”  

Sam shook his head, pressing his lips firmly together.  “Okay, Steve.  Whatever you say.  I refuse to talk about this with you anymore.  Don’t even speak her name in my presence unless it’s to tell me you’re asking her out.” 

Steve rolled his eyes.  “A little dramatic, aren’t we?” 

Sam shrugged.        

Steve finished his reps in silence, mulling over what the other man said.  He supposed it was possible he was missing something in his relationship with Darcy.  But then again, Sam wasn’t out with them.  He wasn’t there with them all the time.   _ He _ only saw snippets of the whole that might be construed as something more than what it actually was. 

Steve hit the showers immediately after his cooldown.  He was supposed to meet Darcy outside her apartment at five, which would put them at the art gallery where the wine tasting was being held at sixish.  Ideally, anyway.  Darcy wasn’t exactly what he would call punctual.  And while stuff like that used to bother him, it really didn’t when he was with her.  

She was, simply put,  _ amazing _ .  And it was worth waltzing in a few minutes late to engagements if he could waltz in with her.  

He knocked on her door promptly at five, and she answered it wearing a towel and hair curlers, so he was fairly certain that they weren’t going to make it promptly at six.  But he was hard pressed to care.  He was an absolute pig for thinking this, but Darcy was wearing a towel.  There wasn’t anything that could bother him when Darcy was wearing a towel.  

The only reason he was going was to be around her, anyhow.  He’d pretty much given up trying to find someone else at this point. Or to lie to himself that finding someone else was the reason he was tagging along.  

Of course, he’d only ever tried to talk to someone else once.  Jocelyn.  Who had been so nervous that she’d mixed up her words and then turned bright red.  

He just…he wasn’t cut out for this.  Back before the serum, women ignored him.  And now?  It was the opposite and he was just as uncomfortable now as he had been before.  

The only one he felt comfortable with was Darcy.  

And like he’d told himself a million times before, if she only wanted to be friends.  Then that’s what he’d be.  Friends.  There wasn’t any way he was going to risk losing what they had just on the off chance that she might find him attractive.  

He’d seen how women who were attracted responded to him and it wasn’t anything like Darcy did. Case closed.  That was that.  

She poked her head out of the bathroom, her hair falling in thick curls around her face.  Bouncy and beautiful.  “I’m almost done!  Sorry, Steve!”  

“It’s really okay!” he replied.  It was.  He didn’t really want to go to this at all.  Sam was right.  He couldn’t enjoy wine.  The taste wasn’t something he’d ever acquired.  And if you couldn’t get drunk, what was the purpose of alcohol?  

She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later.  She smirked at him, striking a pose.  “What do ya think, Cap? Am I decent?”  

He swallowed, trying to keep his face from flushing.  Or draining.  Just…if his face could stay the same color it usually was, that’d be swell.  

Because she was wearing the hell out of that blue dress. It hugged tight around her waist, flaring out at her hips.  It dipped down a fair amount in the front, enough to make his mouth go dry.  She had on this red lipstick that made her lips pop on her pale porcelain face.  Her eyes were bright and so damn big.

Damn, she was a gorgeous woman.  Bucky woulda called her a looker. A double looker even.  Darcy was worthy of all the looks.  Hell, he certainly didn’t want to look away.  

His throat was scratchy, so all he could muster was a quiet, “Yes.  Decent.”  

She was so much more than decent.  

Darcy grinned widely.  “I’ll take it. C’mon, Rogers.  Let’s go.”  

He turned to follow her, unable to stop ogling her for a second as he followed her to the elevator.  Her heels clicked on the tile floors downstairs and it was all he could do to tear his eyes away from the roundness of her…of her…

Posterior.  

Christ, if he used words like that, maybe he really was the old man Tony accused him of being.  Her ass.  He was ogling her ass and he was a terrible person for doing it.  

Well, whatever he called it, if he didn’t stop staring at it, he was going to fall flat on his face.  

He followed her out to the car that was waiting for them, helping her in and shooting one last look up into the night sky for help getting through this evening with his dignity and their friendship intact.  

* * *

 

“Schteeeevvvvve,” Darcy grinned widely and reached out to press the tip of her finger into his chin.  “Schteve.  You’re a pretty man, didjya know?”  

He laughed, taking her hand and tucking it back into her lap.  “You might’ve said something before.”  

“You’re so pretty.  It hurts to look at ya.”  

Darcy hadn’t exactly…adhered to the rules of wine tasting.  She’d kind of…drunk the wine.  All of it that they’d given her. And as a result, Steve was pretty sure that this was the only night she hadn’t gotten any numbers.  Mostly because she’d been hanging on his arm for the past three hours.  

Which, while rather enjoyable, wasn’t really the way to meet anyone at one of these things.  Not only were the women shooting her dirty looks for taking the ‘most eligible bachelor’ off the market.  The men weren’t really too thrilled with him either.  

And now, on their way back in the car, he was having a difficult time fending off her advances.  

He almost rolled his eyes at himself while thinking that.   _ Oh woe is me, a big strong enhanced super soldier having trouble fending off an inebriated woman. _

He looked up front to the driver, who wore a very amused expression on his face.  “Can you take us to that diner we usually go to?  I think some coffee might help.”  

“Sure thing, Captain Rogers.”  The driver put on his turn signal and made a left hand turn.  

“Coffee?” Darcy drawled.  “You’re takin’ me for coffee?  You’re so sweet Steve.  So sweet…and so good.  You’re so goddamn good, aren’t you?”  

He laughed nervously.  “I try to be.”  

“You’re too good aren’t you?  Too good for the likes of me.”  

He frowned.  “What?”  

“You’re just…too good for me.  Look at you.  You’re perfect.  And me?  I’m a mess.  My mascara’s running everywhere…I can barely walk in my shoes.  I drank too much wine.”  

“Darcy, I’m far from perfect.”  

“Bull.  You’re perfect and no one will ever tell me otherwise.  Everything that is good is you, Schteven.”  

“You’re good too, Darcy.”  

She smiled, closing her eyes and patting his cheek roughly.  “No you are.  God, though…your face…” She continued to pat his cheek.  “I love this face.  I wanna kiss this face, can I?”  Her eyes opened and she looked up at him through a hooded gaze.  

He could get lost in those eyes of hers.  

He almost missed her leaning up towards him.  Luckily, she was off slightly and only kissed his jaw.  The touch of her lips made him shiver involuntarily.  

“Darcy…” he pushed her shoulders firmly back.  “You need some coffee.”  

He didn’t miss how her face fell, but he could fix this later.  Much later, after she was sober again and they could actually talk about what she said.  And if it was true.

He didn’t even dare hope.  

She nodded. “Yeah.  Yeah, I need coffee.”     


	4. the right time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's Darcy's POV of the week following the wine incident, I apologize for the typical, tropey, completely unoriginal set up here, but I hope it's still fun to read! ;)

Darcy looked down at her phone again.  Still nada.  

She didn’t know why she was so disappointed.  She’d basically told Steve to leave her alone for a little while.  She was so embarrassed about her drunken behavior that she really didn’t want to think about Steve or anything else that might dredge up those horrifying memories. First hand embarrassment was so much worse than second hand.  And first hand DRUNKEN embarrassment?  The worst of all the embarrassments.    

She’d KISSED him.  Straight up kissed him.  And she was too schnockered to even do it right.  What the hell was her problem?  

She groaned and hid her face.  She’d ruined their friendship because she couldn’t keep it together.   _ Great job, Lewis. _

She kept replaying the uncomfortable awkwardness that was the way he’d acted around her at the coffee place after the kiss…and chin poking.  Or what she liked to call ‘chin gate’.  

How he’d put a safe distance between them at the counter.  If he could have put a whole seat between them without being rude, he probably would have.  An empty stool where the elephant could sit.  The chin-poking, jaw-kissing elephant. 

And then he’d brought her home.  Dutifully.  Because he was a good guy.  And then she’d done the right thing and asked him to please stay away from her for a little while. It was the right thing to make a huge decision like that while still drunk and a little buzzed on coffee, right?    

She’d apologized, told him how mortified she was and then asked him to leave her alone.  He’d looked a little surprised.  A little hurt.  And that made it all the more difficult to follow through on.  But she really, really needed some time.   

And now, in true Darcy fashion, she was upset that he was listening to her.  

Her phone buzzed, and she scrambled to check the screen.  But, it was just her email reminder for the singles’ cooking class tonight.  She’d all but decided against going.  She was pretty sure Steve wasn’t going to be there anyway.  So it wasn’t like someone would be without a partner.  

Besides, who was she kidding?  She wasn’t going to meet the love of her life at a class that taught people how to boil water.  There was no way that two people who couldn’t even cook for themselves were meant to hook up, date, possibly get married and procreate.  

So she decided not to go.  And when Darcy Lewis made a decision, she stuck by it.  

She stuck by it while flipping blindly through Netflix, watching the shows roll by but not really picking anything.  

She stuck by it while she opened her fridge and realized that she didn’t have anything to eat in there.  Backed up by multiple trips back to check again, each time with lower expectations than the first.  

And she stuck by it while looking through her drawer of takeout menus.  

“Oh fuck it.  FINE, universe.  I’ll go.  I’ll go and meet the man you’ve chosen for me.  A man who can’t take care of himself and needs guidance on chopping onions.  I’m sure he’ll be pleased as fruit punch to find me, a lovely lady in the same boat.” 

So, she gave in to reason and possibly fate and went to go change clothes.  She’d already paid for the class.  And if she was lucky, she’d get some not-terrible Chicken a la king or something.  

She almost backed out again on the cab ride over, but she’d bolstered her self esteem again by the time she arrived.  A few minutes late.  Again, in true Darcy fashion.  It was chic to be late to things, though…right?    

The teacher had this big booming voice for such a small woman.  “A ha, we’re in luck…there’s a gentleman over  _ here _ without a partner…” Darcy rolled her eyes internally (because she didn’t want to be rude), because this was already turning out to be awesome.  Sarcastically awesome.  She was getting paired up with a LOSER.  

She was whisked her (pun intended, the teacher had a whisk in her hand) over to a work station and she looked up into the blue eyes of the last man in the world she wanted to see.

There was an awkward silence while they waited for their pet elephant to lumber in and plop down between them. Give the poor thing a break.  It was imaginary, AND Darcy hadn’t been expecting to need it.     

Steve arched his eyebrow sympathetically and held out his hand.  “Hello.”  

“Hi…” Darcy tilted her head questioningly as she shook his hand.  

“I’m Steve…I’m twenty-nine…technically…and you are…?”  

“Darcy…” she answered, playing along for the simple comfort it brought her.  If he wasn’t going to bring up the awkwardness, then neither was she.  The elephant kind of sidled into the background for a bit.    

He winked at her, setting her twisted stomach at ease as he looked down at the recipe in front of him.  “I have to say, I’m absolutely terrible at cooking…I pretty much make eggs and toast…”  

_ And Wheaties _ . 

“Well, not to brag, but I’m very accomplished with the microwave.  I’ve been known to nuke 5 star meals. Five stars as in…you know…how many sparks fly out in the process.”  

He laughed and reached for the knife.  “Okay, so first, we chop the onions…”  

* * *

 

The meal actually came together pretty smoothly, if a little charred around the edges.  She was so enthralled by his stories from his childhood that she kind of let the garlic bread burn.

It was still hella tasty, though.  And Steve was a fun date.  And he never once brought up the unpleasantness, so Darcy just kind of let it slide too.  She laughed a lot.  Smiled a lot.  Not that it was unusual to smile and laugh with Steve.  But this time it was different.  

He was…charming.  Like, it seemed like he was charming on purpose, though.  He asked her questions about stuff he already knew, leaning in on his hand and holding her gaze while she told him things  _ he already knew _ , with little extras that he didn’t peppered in.  

It was really magical and she almost didn’t want the evening to end, but like everything, it kind of had to.  She felt her stomach clench up at the thought of the awkwardness that would have to come up eventually. Her face flushed when she thought of the look on his face the week before.  Her brain was against her sometimes.    

They were cleaning up their station when he did it.  He held out his hand and in it was a slip of paper.  She unfolded it.  His name, printed with his number below it.  

“Steve…I already have your number…”  

“I know.  But it feels like you might have lost it?  Haven’t heard from you all week, Darce.”  

She took a deep breath.  “Steve…I’m so…” 

He shook his head.  “Don’t be.  Just…you know.  Call me tonight when you get home.”  

“You don’t want to go out afterward?  I know we ate already, but…maybe coffee?”    

“Just…just call me, okay?  I had fun and I would love to talk to you some more.”  He grinned again.  One of those Steve Rogers-patented-100 watt-All-American smiles that made all the ladies (Darcy included) go weak in the knees.  Plus, he was still doing the cute-pretending-they-were-on-a-date thing and therefore, he was earning bonus puddle melting points.  Honestly, she was lucky she was still standing at this point.    

“We can talk when we go eat like we usually do…”  

“I want…” he smiled and looked down.  “I want to talk to you  _ tonight _ .  If you enjoyed yourself…I’d like for you to call me. Like you would for anyone you  _ date _ .  I...I don’t want this to be like what we usually do, Darcy.”  

Her heart was about to thump out of her chest.   _ Date? _  Darcy pressed her lips together and nodded.  “I did enjoy myself. On our…date.”  

“Then I will look forward to your call.”  

She couldn’t hide the grin anymore.  “I will be calling you tonight, Rogers.  Prepare yourself.”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter tomorrow, and you know what's gonna happen in the last chapter! *wink wink nudge nudge*


	5. roll to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *trumpet fanfare* 
> 
> Well, here we are, folks. The moment we've all been waiting for...
> 
> I hope it doesn't disappoint! 
> 
> Little side note: While I wrote this for glynnisista8 and wasn't really thinking about this at all, I am super blown away by the response I've received. Thank you, guys. <3 This was a much needed ego boost. <3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter titles are from the song [Roll to Me](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suzwkw0dYmM) by Del Amitri. I did change them slightly for the title of chapter 3, however. ;)

She did call Steve later that night as she got home.  

And she talked to him for literal hours.   _ Hours _ on the phone.  Until her ear was red and sweaty and her phone started beeping due to low battery.

It was about two in the am when she hung up with him.  And she went to bed grinning into her pillow, because she’d had a four hour phone conversation with Steve and it was awesome.  

He HAD brought up the elephant.  The drunken chin poke/jaw kiss combo that had caused her so much strife over the past week.  And much to her surprise, he’d actually liked it.  

_ “Darcy, I wasn’t uncomfortable because I didn’t want it, I was uncomfortable because I wasn’t sure if YOU did.  Or if it was because of...you know…”   _

_ “The wine?”   _

_ “Yeah.  That…” He chuckled and the sound made her feel warm all over.     _

_ “So, here’s a question, Big Guy…if you wanted to kiss me that night…why didn’t you…you know, kiss me tonight?” _

_ “It wasn’t the right time…” he said.  She could hear the teasing tone in his voice.   _

_ “When IS the time?”  _

_ “I dunno.  Maybe tomorrow evening when I take you out to see a movie?”   _

_ “A movie, huh?  Sounds fun. Especially the kissing part.”   _

Which was of course, how she found herself getting ready for a movie date on a Sunday night.  A Sunday night date.  With Steve.  She kept having to pinch herself to make sure it was really happening.  

Bucky and Sam were going to be impossible from now on, that much was certain. She owed both of them dinner.   

She spent an inordinate amount of time picking out the perfect t-shirt and jeans combo to wear.  It wasn’t an easy task, mind you.  She had a ton of t-shirts and by some stroke of happenstance, they’d all transformed into completely ugly and unwearable pieces of filth sometime during the night before.  Darcy suspected the poor forgotten elephant had something to do with this.  Which is why you should never EVER adopt your awkward metaphorical elephant in the room as a pet, people.  They just aren’t happy with apartment life.  

Steve rang the bell right on time, of course, and she wasn’t really ready yet.  She was still in her socks when she padded to the door.  

She pulled it open, and he was standing there, looking utterly yummy and perfect.    

“Hey Steve,” she said, her words coming out a little more breathless than she was expecting.  It wasn’t her fault. His lips looked altogether too kissable.  Too soft and pink.  He was licking them too.  Not fair.  

“Darcy…” he answered, his eyes roving up and down her body and making her nerves feel all jumpy.  “You look…”  

“You too,” she countered before he could finish his sentence.  He took a step forward and his hands slipped around her waist.  Then, he was kissing her, honest to god KISSING her as he backed her into her apartment.  His lips moved against hers, his arms holding fast to her waist.  His thumbs brushed against her abdomen and she gasped into his mouth.  She wrapped her arms around his neck so she could support herself.  

He broke off the kiss long enough to reach back to shut her door.  “Beautiful,” he finished.  “You look beautiful.”  

“You too,” she repeated.  

“Sorry to just…kiss you, I—”  

“Steve?  Don’t ever apologize for kissing me.  Consider this my full consent for you to kiss me…you know…however and whenever and wherever you want.”  

He responded by lifting her up onto her counter-top.  “I hope that means I can kiss you on the counter…because you’re very short…”  

“Hey now…I’d like to think of myself as fun-sized.”  

He grinned briefly before his lips met hers again.  It  _ was _ nice, though. Not having to crane her neck.  

His hands stayed very firmly on her waist, however.  As much as Darcy would have liked for them to go roaming up and down her valleys and plains, Steve kept them planted.  

He did step in closer when she spread her knees.  

She broke off the kiss briefly, looking up at his eyes.  His pupils were dilated, his lips parted and slightly red from her kisses.  “Steve, what about the movie?” 

“Uhhh…”  

“Because if it’s okay with you, I have movies here…”  

He raised his eyebrows.  “That’s good to know.”  

She nodded.  “I have lots of movies.  I even have a little TV in my bedroom.”  

“That’s good to know,” he repeated, a little more slowly as he tightened his hold on her waist.  

She nodded again, more slowly this time.  “I mean…if you need to check it out to make sure it’ll work…by all means, be my guest.”  

He lifted her with no trouble, pulling her onto his front, which prompted her to wrap her legs around his waist.  He went back to her room, bouncing her slightly on the mattress as he crawled up on her bed with her.  “This okay?” he asked, kissing up the line of her throat as she choked out an affirmative answer.  Because hell yes, this was more than okay.  

They somehow scooted up towards the pillows.  His lips pressed heatedly to hers as his hand finally…FINALLY started roaming.  Right up under her t-shirt.  His fingers felt rough and perfect against her soft skin.  He traced along the under-wire on her bra, making her shiver.  She shifted against him, noting the growing bulge in his jeans as it pressed against her thigh.   Every single part of this man was solid. 

He pressed hot kisses down the length of her neck, each touch making her quiver even more for him.  His fingers tickled under her shirt, which made her squirm.  Her lacy bra was rubbing just  _ so _ against her breasts, her nipples dragging deliciously against the texture.  

They were hard stiff points by the time his hand finally moved from below to fully grasping the fullness of her breast.  His thumb swiped over the hard peak, making the fabric rasp against her sensitive flesh.  She couldn’t help but let out a small moan. His hips pressed against her thigh and she swore she could feel the entire hard length of him already.  

“Steve…” she whispered, noting the way his breath caught when she said his name.  He sucked softly at her throat, his lips forming words between kisses.  She could barely hear him.  Could barely make out what he was saying.  

“I want…I want…”

“What do you want?” she murmured. “Tell me…”  

“You…god, Darcy…I want you.”  

She let her hand trail down between them.  She palmed his erection in his jeans and he swore.  A swift and short ‘fuck’ that both surprised and thrilled her.  She wanted to see if she could get him to say it more.  

“You have me, Steve.  I’m on a bed.  Your hand’s up my shirt.”  

“I know, I just…” He bucked forward into her hand.  “Don’t you want to wait?”  

“I’m through waiting…” She whispered.  “Aren’t you?”  

“God yes…”  He leaned back on his knees, gripping the edge of her t-shirt and pulling it up over her head.  

She did the same for him, revealing a pair of pecs that she could fucking just…knock on if she wanted to.  She wanted to do  _ more _ than knock.  “God BLESS…” she reached for him, her hands moving up and into every dip of his defined abs and pectorals.  

He was unbuttoning and pulling down her jeans, moaning impatiently when she reached for the button on his pants.  He kicked them off and onto the floor, tossing hers down there as well when he got them off.  

His hand trailed up her leg, moving up her inner thigh as she bent her knee and parted them to give him better access.  “Darcy…where…what…what do you like?”  

Her mouth went dry.  “I—I dunno…normal stuff?”  

_ What the hell is normal stuff? _

He reached for her hand, placing it on her breast.  “Show me…tell me…tell me where to put my hands…my mouth…”  He leaned down to kiss her, a chaste peck, especially in comparison to what he was asking her for. 

She was certain her cheeks were flaming red as she reached up to brush her fingers over her nipple.  It pebbled again at her touch.  The drag of the lace was wonderful and she let out a soft moan before she spoke.  “Here…touch me here…like this…”  

He leaned over on his elbow, his eyes never leaving hers as he copied her movements.  She bucked her hips up towards his, desperate for friction elsewhere.  Friction down between her legs, where she was starting to ache.  

“Do you want me to…to take off your bra?”  

“You can…but I kind of…” she hesitated to continue, but remembered that this was Steve.  And he’d asked, so… “I kind of like the lace…”  

“Oh…” he ran his thumb over her nipple.  “Like that?”  

She arched her back, pressing up into his hand.  “Yes, like that…”  

He treated her other nipple to the same treatment, rubbing and rolling it beneath the black lace until she was practically moaning his name.  “Your mouth…” she whispered, “Use your mouth…”  

He didn’t hesitate.  His mouth was warm and wet and his tongue her groan loudly.  She was practically shaking with it.  

She tugged his hand down, down, down to the waistband of her panties.  He thankfully took the hint, sliding his hand down the front of them.  His fingers felt big as he slid them through her slickness, parting her and gently rolling the little nub and making her buck impatiently into his hand.  He didn’t speed up, didn’t do anything more than tease, but it all felt so very good.  

She was wet, almost embarrassingly so.   

She slid her hand down the front of his briefs for a distraction, wrapping her fingers around his thick cock and making him whimper against her breast.  His back stiffened and relaxed as she slowly rubbed his length.  From base to tip, her thumb swirling over the head in the process.  His skin was scorching hot and his lips and tongue had frozen on her breast.  He eventually let it go completely, moaning loudly as she worked him in her hand.  

“I want you…” she whispered. 

“Protection?” he rasped.  

“Taken care of,” she assured him.  She was on SHIELD’s godsend of a birth control shot.  Not to mention squeaky clean as reported by her quarterly SHIELD mandated physicals.   

He yanked his hand down, taking her panties with it.  She heard the pop of the seams, the tear of the cotton, but she didn’t really care.  Not when he was pushing down his briefs and pressing himself into her.  

There was a stretch involved…not at all unpleasant as he slowly pushed himself into her.  She spread her legs, wrapped them around his waist.  His lips brushed against hers as his hips met hers.  Her name was a soft whisper on his lips.  A prayer.  

He pulled back only to press forward again, each time he filled her, he pressed bluntly against her g-spot, making her toes curl with every thrust.  

“Steve…” she blurted, biting her lip as he sped up, fucking hard into her and making the headboard knock against the wall.  His hand went down between them, thumb rubbing lightly at her clit.  She moaned, throwing her head back as he slowly, but surely took her to the moon.  

Her breasts bounced with every thrust of his hips and she was rolling over the edge into ecstasy before she knew it.  

He ground out his release soon after, his face buried in her neck as his body quaked with it.  

“Darcy…” he murmured, kissing her skin and looking up into her eyes.  “You forgot to show me your TV…”  

She waved her arm vaguely at her dresser.  “It’s over there.”  

He laughed, a soft chuckle against her shoulder.  “Sorry we missed the movie.”  

“I’m not.”  

* * *

 

It wasn’t until much later that night, when they were drifting off to sleep in a nest of absolutely tangled bedding that she even thought to ask.  

“So…how many was that?” she murmured, her hand stroking the back of his head.  

“I dunno — I lost count — a few, it looks like.”  

“Good Blob Almighty, Rogers.”    
  


**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://dresupi.tumblr.com/)!


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